Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1887-02-19

ANALYSIS CT THE GERMAN ARAY-THoR0uGH OR.
GANIzATIoN and EQUIPNBNr-GENKRAL ADoP.
TIoN OF THE GERMAN MAGAZINE GUN

| yOnd the Rhine.
ANALYSIS CT THE GERMAN ARMY-rHoRouGH Or
| GANIzATIoN and FQUIPNENr-GENKRAL ADoP-
TIoN OF TIE GERMAN MAGAZINE GUN.
From the New York World
| After an interval OF sixteen years France and
Germany are again facing each other and showing
| their teeth, and unless some good Providence in
| tervenes the grim spectre OF war may ere long
overcloud the European continent Even the most
sanguine agree that the forthcoming struggle
must surpasS in intensity and in the extent OF
carnage and devastation any foreign war OF the
present century. The opposing armies are both
so great In numbers and so perfectly organized
that nothing short Of complete humiliation will
cause either to giveway and complete humiliation
means the sacrifice Of million human lives Let US
now throw cursory glance at these huge engneso OF
war, beginning in the present paper with the
| German army, which will doubtless be the first
to move after a formal declaration has been
| made.
| The German army Is recruited In accordance
with the terms OF the law OF May 9Th, 1880, which
PROVIDES that all German subjects shall De nso Oh
Were this law carried out to the letter IL would
| place nearly eight million men under arms and
would bankrupt the National Treasury. SO Dy q
series OF military regulations the army on peace
| footing has been placed at little over 425, OOO
men, while In time Of war 7s2 600 trained SOL
includes every branch OF the service, the reserve,
| the Landwehr, the Landsturm, &C.
The entire force in war time Is under the direct
command OF the emperor OF Germany. Still the
| different minor states preserve certain amount
OF individuality which is visible in more ways
than one, especially in times OF peace. Thus the
king OF Bavaria stands practically at the head Of
| his own force; Bavaria has her own minister OF
priated TO her by the reichstag Independently OF
| the empire. Moreover, the Bavarian army has
stuck to the anti-bellum national uniform-hght
blue cloth with green trimmings SaxOny and
| Wurtemberg and the Duchy Of Brunswick enjoy
similar privileges to Bavaria with the exception
that their military budget Is regulated in detail
Marshal Pelissier once said that the French
soldier carried the baton Of marshal OF France in
his haversack. II would be difficult to apply the
same statement TO the German. Promotion In
Emperor Williams army Is a long and tedious
| OF a corporal Without ACCOMPLISHING his three
years serv1ce-a fact which neceSSIates hts re-
enlisting. There are five grades OF non-commis-
stoned officers, VIZ: Untero6izier who performs
eorporars duties; sergenG or lance-sergeant; rice
fetot,oebet or color-sergeant; Jetd,oebet or ser
geanEna,or H.. and lastly,
commissioned, distinguishes himself from the
rest In SO fur that he has passed special eXam-
OF the nine war academies OF the empire followed
| by another successful examination can be pro-
NOTED to the grade OF second lieutenant. The
other nOn-comInssioned officers on the other hand
seldom rise above the rank OF JeldtceoeL
The commissioned officers are divided into six
grades. as follows: Second lieutenant, lieutenant
captain, major, lieutenant colonel and colonel
No definite laws exist on the subject OF promotion
which depends principally On the viii OF the en-
peror. Still the custom has been to promote in
accordance with duration OF service. The general
oif1cers are divided into Jour grades: Major gen.
era, lieutenant general, infantry or cavalry gen.
three officers OF the latter grade in Germany
Moitke the crown prince and Prince Lu1tpOld OF
Davalia tne iat.er however being called fedzeug-
army. And now We come to the great German
general staff that combination OF military genius,
learning and foresight OF which the aged Field
Marshal Moltke is chief. The Prussian general
stan Is the most perfect Institution Of its kind in
the world and TO this perfection is In large meas
ure due the phenOmfnal success OF PruSSian arms
since 1864. One OF the departments Is devoted to
the collection and compilation or military writings
charts typographical surveys &C., from every sec
ton OF the ha0itable globe; hence the Germans
are justly said 10 be better posted regarding the
geography and military resources Of their neigh
DorS than perhaps their neighborS themselves.
The general staff also publishes official histories
OF former wars; the one on the Danish war having
recently appeared. Since 1882 Gen. Won Waldersee
mas acted Ia the capacity OF assistant TO The aged
MOltke, with the title OK general Quarternaster
The remaining members OF the general stan are
Count Schiienen, Fogei Won FalkenSte1n, Col. Ober-
hof1er and Count Won Keller all officers OF vast
perience and technical knowledge, above all Fall
kehstein, an active commander In Prussta's three
last campaigns.
As stated further above almost each OF the states
or the confederation has its own war minister
sian folio since 1883; in Bavaria Lieut.. Gen. Won
Hemleth, and SaXony Gen. Won Fabrice, and in
Wurtemberg Major Bilfinger are ministers Of war;
over ana above all these ministers stands the mill
tary cabinet OF the emperor, directed by Gen. Won
Albedyll- In addition 10 this the emperor COM
munlcates with the eighteen army corps Of the
German army by means OF five inspectorshipS the
incumbents OF which are directly responsible to
him. Thus are the component parts OF this great
lighting machine controlled from one and the same
source and kept In perfect harmony with one an
other.
Everything In the uniforming and equipment Of
the German army is suboriinated to the idea of
| utility and comfort. The Prussian foot soldier
the dragon. the artillerist and the Uhlan are ali
CLAD In uniforms or dark hue, in most cases blue
| TUNES with black trousers nearly tmperceptible
colors In distance. The hussar5 and cuirassiers
it is true dressed In brighter tints that is red
and white respectively, but they form but small
proportion Of the cavalry branch. The legendary
picket-fonbe, or spiked helmet, sti1 remains the
| most marked and distinctive feature OF the Prus-
sian soldiers accOutrementS. 1t has been greatly
reduced in weight, however, by the use Of lighter
metal plating and thinner leather. Talking about
uniforms, the most peculiar nicknames exist in
the German army bearing on the subject. Thus
| the lsC regiment of Foot Guards Is everywhere
account Of Sa nsa
Foot Guards are called Hop}enstangen or hop
poles on account OF their size; the 1st Grenadiers
shooters, Laubfroesehe, or bulfrOes, because Of
their green uniforms; the Hussars, GiuhUuermer.
or 1reougs, because their tunics are both green
and scarlet, and the Pioneers, Regenuuermer or
earth-wOrms- This habit OF nicknam1ng applies
not alone TO the uniforms but also to the different
branches of the service, for we find the Imperial
Guard a whole dubbed Hananaeln or ewes: the
cavalry, Sdndhdse, or sand hares; the soldiers Of
the line, FetdrdtzeR, or field rats; the white uni
formed cuiraSSterS, Mehls9cke, or flour bags and
the arullertStS, GuhsOlddtea, or cow soldiers
why the latter name the victims themselves can
| probably never explain.
In the matter OF arming, the Pruss1an army
stands foremost In Europe to-day, as 1t has stood
! Tor years The artillery, which Is OF the Krupp
pattern and manufacture, has perhaps undergone
| little change or improvement since 1870 but In
small arms the Germans have lately made enOr-
| nous strides The 1Muttder-Zettung fur die Re-
Serre und L0adtCekr ODiziere des Deukschen
heeres OF last December contained detailed ac.
S3unt OF a new magazine gun that had Just been
| introduced into the German army, from which
! the following facts are CLEANED: Tne gun goes
by the name NJ. II "a, meaning that it is nothing
more Than the Old Mauser rifle introduced in 1871
and subjected In 1884 10 an alteration which con-
verified IL into magazine gun. The first tine mn
| lie knew Of this change was not earlier than
August OF last year, when five German ARM
corps stationed On the western frontier were sud-
denly armed with the improved weapon, and it
was learned for the first time that the govern
] ment had been working on the project for nearly
| two years. Since then the whole German army
| has been supplied with magazine guns and "a at
present proficient in their use.
/ In appearance the German magazine gun
greatly resembles the Winchester and indeed Il is
| worked On the same principle, although it win
| hold but ten cartridges at time instead of SIX
| teen- The magazine consists OF long barrel run.
ming parallel with the barrel OF the gun spiral
| spring forces the cartridge forward and another
| spring called a feeder or spoon forces them one
| after the other into the firing chamber and from
| there into the bore. The magazine holds eight
cartridges, the chamber one and the bore another
The empty cartridge Is elected by another spring
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